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Stocks Enjoy Strong Start
Equities in Toronto rose on Thursday as the energy and financial sectors advanced, while non-bank lender Home Capital Group jumped after it said it will get a line of credit from Berkshire Hathaway.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 49.73 points to open Thursday at 15,198.26
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.74 cents to 75.57 cents U.S.
Home Capital Group said billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc will provide a new $2-billion line of credit to its unit Home Trust Co, ending the Canadian lender's strategic review process.
Home shares ballooned $1.85, or 12.4%, to $16.79
Deutsche Bank cut the target price on First Quantum Minerals to $18.00 from $22.00.
First Quantum shares added 23 cents, or 2.3%, to $10.25.
Desjardins cut the target price on Loblaw Companies to $81.00 from $85.00. Loblaw shares took on eight cents to $72.92.
Eight Capital raised the price target on Empire Company to $20.00 from $19.00. Empire, which runs the Sobeys grocery store chain, dropped eight cents to $18.99
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries fell by 7,000, or 1.3%, to 541,200 in April, a sixth consecutive monthly decline.
The agency also said retail trade rose 0.8% to $48.6 billion in April. Sales were up in nine of 11 sub-sectors, representing 71% of total retail trade. Excluding sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales climbed 1.5%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.74 points to 772.54
Six of the 12 TSX subgroups began the day positive, as health-care climbed 1.7%, while energy and materials powered up 0.8% each.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by information technology, skidding 0.5%, while real-estate and telecoms each dipped 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mixed as crude tried to bounce back from back-to-back selloffs.
The Dow Jones Industrials were 0.10 points south of breakeven to open at 21,409.93, with UnitedHealth contributing the most gains and Goldman Sachs the most losses.
The S&P 500 faded 1.17 points to 2,434.44, with health-care leading advancers and consumer staples lagging.
The NASDAQ shed 4.76 points to 6,229.19
In corporate news, shares of American Airlines jumped more than 2.5% after the airline disclosed Qatar Airways had approached the firm about taking a large stake in the company. Other airline stocks like Delta Air Lines, Southwest and United followed American shares higher.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained slightly, lowering yields to 2.15% from Wednesday’s 2.16%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gathered 35 cents to $42.88 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $5.90 to $1,251.70 U.S. an ounce.
